RESUMEN
The objective of this retrospective study was to compare the abilities of quadriplegic patients to complete activities of daily living with and without the use of a portable hand neuroprosthesis. The neuroprosthesis provided synthetic hand grasp through functional neuromuscular stimulation of paralyzed forearm and hand muscles. Data were obtained from telephone interviews, patient records, and videotapes. Twenty-two quadriplegic patients were included in the study; 15 were functional at a C5 spinal cord injury level and seven at a C6 level. The median success rate (ie, the percentage of patients who could complete each activity) across the ten activities was 89% with the hand neuroprosthesis but was only 49% without the hand neuroprosthesis. All patients could perform more tasks when the neuroprosthesis was used, although the relative improvement of C5 patients was larger than that of C6 patients.
Asunto(s)
Actividades Cotidianas , Mano , Prótesis e Implantes , Cuadriplejía/rehabilitación , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Diseño de Prótesis , Cuadriplejía/fisiopatología , Estudios RetrospectivosRESUMEN
Functional neuromuscular stimulation of the upper extremity provides manipulative capacity to persons with high level tetraplegia who have insufficient voluntary muscles available for tendon transfer surgery. We report an enhancement of the technique to include surgical implantation of a multichannel receiver-stimulator, sensory feedback stimulation, and tendon transfers. Tendon transfers were done with spastic, rather than voluntary motors employing standard surgical techniques. The system described has been operational for more than 1 1/2 years.
Asunto(s)
Terapia por Estimulación Eléctrica/instrumentación , Electrodos Implantados , Mano , Cuadriplejía/rehabilitación , Actividades Cotidianas , Adulto , Mano/inervación , Humanos , Masculino , Microcomputadores , Cuidados Posoperatorios , Reoperación , Transferencia TendinosaRESUMEN
Functional neuromuscular stimulation (FNS) of the C5 and C6 tetraplegic upper extremity has been shown to be a valid clinical tool for restoring controlled movement in the paralyzed hand. The current clinical system consists of a shoulder position transducer controlling an external microprocessor-based stimulator, which excites paralyzed muscle via the peripheral nerve using percutaneous leads or a multichannel, implantable stimulator. Tendon transfer surgery of paralyzed but innervated muscle may augment the neurologically deficient upper extremity by allowing the substitution of stronger motors or the addition of new motors where flaccid paralysis (dennervation) eliminates the usual muscle from a grasp pattern. Sensory feedback in the form of machine state and cognitive information can be provided to the normally innervated C5 dermatome skin by subcutaneous electrodes. C5- and C6-level tetraplegics using FNS can independently perform single-hand manipulative tasks at a level similar to that of subjects with intact C7 roots, although they lack the elbow control.